U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,087 to one of the present inventors discloses an automatic vehicle parting system intended to provide a tiered parking structure the dense parking of parked vehicles. Such a construction contemplated significant economies in both site utilization and operation, providing parking for a plurality of vehicles upon a relatively limited land space area. In that inventor""s subsequent U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,185, an improved automated parking garage structure is disclosed utilizing a rectilinear, rather than cylindrical structure.
The foregoing and other parking systems are of significant utility, as they each allow significant utilization of limited land space, allowing vehicles to be parked and stacked in a vertical-extending array. In general, such constructions are more efficient than conventional non-mechanized parking garage structures, where access is obtained through ramps sloping through the structure, the vehicles being driven, rather than carried, to a parking location.
Yet even these automated structures require a relatively large plot of land and are of a complex and expensive construction. While the number of vehicles which may be parked therein is large, the economies of scale require a large investment. Often there is a need for a parking structure of more limited capabilities. The land available may be impractical or insufficient for the construction of a parking structure having a large number of parking spaces on a given level, requiring expensive and complicated shuttle means to both raise the vehicle to the level and to direct the vehicle horizontally into a chosen one of a relatively large plurality of stalls. Alternatively, sufficient funds may be unavailable for a large structure, or the parking requirements for the location may be more modest.
It is accordingly a purpose of the present invention to provide an automated vehicle parking/storage facility capable of being constructed and operated on relatively small land areas.
Yet a further purpose of the present invention is to provide such a storage structure which is of economical construction and efficient operation.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a parking structure of the aforementioned general format which does not require driver assistance for vehicle parking or retrieval.
In accordance with the foregoing and other objects and purposes, a vehicle parking structure in accordance with the present invention comprises a structure having a central vertical elevator shaft having elevator means for raising an unoccupied vehicle to be parked or stored from an entrance level location to a chosen parking stage level or story and depositing the vehicle in an empty stall at the level, as well as for retrieving a parked vehicle from a stall and returning it to the entrance level location for departure from the structure. Each parking story comprises parking space for two vehicles, one space on each of opposite sides of the elevator shaft.
A vehicle to be parked is driven onto a tray on the elevator at the entrance level. The tray sits upon a shifter means that includes an extension mechanism which allows the tray to be extended and held outwardly of the elevator shaft in one of two opposite directions when the elevator is raised to the level of the intended vacant stall, to position the tray within the intended stall and lower the tray and vehicle onto supports in the stall. The extension mechanism then retracts and returns to a central, neutral position within the elevator shaft. The elevator can then be directed either to the entrance level to accommodate a new vehicle to be stored or to a parking level to retrieve a parked vehicle.
A parked vehicle is retrieved by positioning the elevator such that shifter is slightly below the level of the tray on which the vehicle is located, extending the extension mechanism to align with the vehicle, raising the elevator to lift the tray and vehicle from the supports and retracting the extension mechanism to the neutral position within the shaft The parked vehicle is then lowered to the entrance level stage for drive off.
An interlock system is provided to maintain a tray on the supports of a parking stall. The interlock is disengaged when the shifter deposits or removes a tray from the supports. Such as interlock is of significant value, particularly in high wind areas, since unoccupied trays are stored in the stalls and can be subject to large wind-induced forces. The shifting apparatus is of unique and simplified construction, allowing for efficient operation. A garage utilizing the elevator and shifter may be adapted to varying heights and parking levels, in accordance with the numbers of vehicles to be stored.